(Looking out at the Goulbourn Wetland Complex from along the Trans Canada Trail. Photo: Stittsville Central)
On April 16, 2026, the Watershed Conservation Coalition received news that Bill 97, Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2026, had been removed from the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs as an agenda item and would proceed directly to Third Reading. “This, of course, adversely impacts any further public hearings for Schedule 3 as it relates to the proposed regional consolidation of CAs, as well as all other Schedules within the Omnibus Bill,” shared Janet Stavinga, representative of the Watershed Conservation Coalition. Due to this unfavourable action, the Coalition has written an Open Letter to Premier Ford, the Ontario Cabinet members and Conservative MPPs as shared below.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER FORD, CABINET AND CONSERVATIVE MPPs
On behalf of the Watershed Conservation Coalition, a newly established group of seventy-four dedicated professionals with decades of service supporting local science-based and watershed resource management, we are writing to express our grave concerns about the eleventh-hour maneuver by Government House Leader Steve Clark on April 17 to bypass public hearings on Bill 97, the Plan to Protect Ontario Act. This proposed motion is anti-democratic. By bundling major changes to the Conservation Authorities Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act into an omnibus bill – a tactic used before to fast-track legislation – your government is avoiding public scrutiny and informed dialogue on significant reforms.
We continue to have serious reservations about the province’s proposed consolidation of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities into 9 regions. We have been actively working since late 2025 to influence this misguided direction. Despite claims of consultation and consensus, neither exists. Regional consultations with CAs and municipalities were focused on how consolidation might occur – not whether it should. Notably, 97.5% of submissions to the Environmental Registry of Ontario from individuals, professionals, municipalities, conservation authorities, environmental organizations, farming groups, and Indigenous communities opposed consolidation and urged caution. Municipalities called for greater consultation and a slowdown of the process. Instead, you are choosing to push forward recklessly.
Your government’s rationale for consolidation is not credible. The goals of modernization, including enhanced provincial coordination, standardized approaches, and digital integration, can be achieved without the upheaval associated with restructuring the existing CAs. Decisions about watershed management must be guided by science, geography, and local conditions—not broad regional or administrative boundaries. Expansion of boundaries will complicate planning, permitting, emergency management, and municipal collaboration. Many of the issues your government cites as problematic have already been addressed, including CAs granting 96% of permits within the required timelines.
For decades, Conservation Authorities have been underfunded by the province, with municipalities bearing increasing costs. Current provincial funding for Conservation Authorities is less than 8% and in some cases as low as 1%. Consolidation will not address this underfunding and will further strain rural Conservation Authorities, leaving them with no more resources than they had before to support aging infrastructure and modernization.
The new Ontario Provincial Conservation Agency also has the power to wield dictatorial authority over CAs, including introducing additional costs to recover its own operational expenses, further increasing the financial burden on municipalities. Your government is conducting a careless, hostile takeover of our CAs, just as it has proposed with the school boards and upper-tier municipalities.
Consolidating our CAs under the guise of speeding up approvals for housing or infrastructure will result in substantial unfunded costs. These costs have not been accounted for by the province, including IT integration, HR restructuring, harmonization of wages and benefits, renaming/rebranding, and legal harmonization. Like other recent endeavours by this government, this is yet another expensive boondoggle!
Your slogan “Protect Ontario” did not come with the understanding that you would be taking away Ontarians’ rights to contribute meaningfully to issues that affect our safety, cost of living or governance. You may have a majority at Queen’s Park, but you do not have a mandate to govern in secret.
Democracy withers in the dark, but we will continue to shine a spotlight on the implications of your poor judgment and decisions that do not protect Ontario.
On behalf of the Watershed Conservation Coalition,
Barbara Anderson, Retired, Operations and Policy, Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Bryan Howard, Retired, General Manager, Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (CA); Former Resources Manager, Essex Region CA; MNR, Conservation Authorities Branch (CAB); General Manager, Central Lake Ontario CA; Resources Manager, Long Point Region CA, MNR, CAB; Resources Manager, Ausable River CA; Department of Energy & Resources Management, CAB; Assistant Resources Manager, CAB
Paul Lehman, Retired GM, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (CA)
Deborah Martin-Downs, Retired, Chief Administration Officer (CAO), Credit Valley Conservation
Rob Messervey, Retired CAO, Kawartha Region CA; Former GM, Lower Trent Region CA; Manager of the Provincial Conservation Authorities Program, Ministry of Natural Resources
Janet Stavinga, Former Chair, Mississippi-Valley Source Protection Committee; Vice-Chair, Rideau Valley CA; former Mayor of Goulbourn Township and former Ottawa City Councillor
Barbara Veale, Retired Acting CAO and Senior Director, Watershed Management and Climate Change Conservation Halton
Mike Walters, Retired CAO, Lake Simcoe Region CA